Chroma: Rose & Onyx :: (One-shots)
by dezmari
Summary: {(SasuSaku One-Shot Collection)} 003. - As he opened his eyes the world around him was in shades of grey. They were in the middle of nowhere, there was no past around them, no future, only the present. "We can't stay here." "We have nowhere else to go." - (R&R)
1. Wash Away the Red

Wash Away the Red

_"You'll never stop being Sakura to me." And her heart skipped a beat at his words. But there were stains that would never wash out._

* * *

The happiness that filled her the moment she found them bleeding out in the valley of the end was gone along with his pulse. She, Konoha's best medic, the Hokage's apprentice, wasn't able to do a thing for him. After everything she'd gone through to prove her worth she couldn't even save one friend.

Long after his pulse died out, without an ounce of chakra left, she was still trying. She attempted to breathe life into him, she willed her body for more chakra, just enough for a miracle. But most of all she cried and begged over his dead body that became increasingly cold by the second.

This couldn't be happening, she remembered thinking as her bottom lip trembled and she cried some more.

She placed her hand on his cheek and in a breathless whisper she begged. "_Please_ Naruto don't die." She felt Kakashi and Sasuke's eyes on her, she must have looked pathetic, but she didn't care. When Naruto didn't respond she threw herself over him and cried over his chest.

She felt a strong hand grip her shoulder and in a faraway voice Kakashi whispered, "Stop this." Her tears stopped but she continued to hold on to him, her ear against his chest waiting for a heartbeat that never came. Instead the next sound she heard was Kakashi's voice again beckoning her. "Sakura, let him go, there's nothing you can do." He took her by the shoulders and pulled her off from the blonde.

Pain and anger ripped her chest in equal amounts, she raised her gaze and she could see Sasuke. His eyes were filled with pain and his still existing arm gripped the remains of the other one. "This is all your fault!" She screeched. "If you hadn't insisted in your ridiculous revolution none of this would have happened. Naruto would be here." Her voice broke at the end.

She could see him wince out of pain, he was barely conscious. "Sakura you need to do something about Sasuke's condition, he might not make it to the village." Against everything in her that told her to let him rot, there was a small part that couldn't stand by and watch him die.

She wanted to think it was purely 'medic' instinct but she knew it was that part in her that inexplicably loved him, even then. She moved quickly and made her way towards him. She tore the remaining sleeve she had.

She reached for his arm but he shied away. When she tried again he stopped her gripping her hand tightly. "Just let me die." He told her, as the words left his lips she saw in his eyes everything she never wanted to see.

"I can't…" She spoke, oh how she wished she could. For a moment his eyes softened but before she could delve on it he lost consciousness.

* * *

Almost a month had passed and the remaining survivor of the fight was in a coma. Sometimes she would toy with a notion in her head in where she would disconnect him and be done with him. It would serve more good than harm, the hospital was immensely under staffed, there was a shortage on rooms and beds and he was just taking up space.

She shook her head as she eyed over his file, nothing changed. The only reason she was still there watching over him was because of Naruto. If Sasuke died Naruto's death would have been in vain.

As Sakura looked him over she had to admit one would not think him responsible of all his crimes, he looked peaceful, like he didn't carry thousands of demons on his back, like blood didn't stain every inch of his body.

The monitor stayed the same when all she wanted was for it to change; let him die or let him live, just take this burden off of her.

Placing back the file where it belonged she left, with a last look at his face she hurried back out the door.

.

.

.

Lately she didn't leave the hospital, she couldn't even remember the last time she slept in her bed or the last time she had a proper meal. She was needed. Her days passed with her going from room to room, from patient to patient, she either gave life or she didn't. Her days passed in a blur.

That day was no different.

There were plenty of scheduled surgeries, plenty of which she either had to supervise or do herself. Tsunade was preparing Kakashi for the title of Hokage and Shizune was busy doing most of Tsunade's work.

At the end of the day no patient had died.

She was exhausted, she longed to throw herself on the chair of her desk and sleep if only for a few hours, but there was one last patient to check.

She made her way to the room, taking a deep breath she opened the door. The room was as silent as ever, with only the beating of the monitor. She sighed. Making her way out the door she closed it behind her.

* * *

Two weeks later she steps into the hospital, being one of those rare occasions in where she does go home if only for a few hours. It does surprise her when she sees the nurses running up and down and she quickly feels guilty for having left. Night is normally not as busy.

The walk up to her office is interrupted when a nurse approaches her with a fear stricken face. "Haruno-san the patient in room 207 woke up from the coma over an hour ago. He hasn't let anyone approach him."

She's not sure if the surprise showed on her face so she averted her gaze and nodded. The nurse quickly scurried off.

Quickening her pace she makes her way over to his room not even bothering to pass by her office. As she arrives she sees a few nurses outside along with a medic ninja. "Haruno-san!" He exclaimed his tone hushed.

The distress on his expression told her that he hadn't had any luck as well as the nurses around him. She stepped forward and before she could think twice about it and walk back down the hallway she opened the door.

"_Leave."_ He spoke his gaze fixed on his lap as he gripped the sheets with his fist. She didn't speak and instead closed the door behind her and took a few steps forward until she was just in front of his bed. She couldn't see his face, his bangs had grown long enough that they hid him from view as he looked down.

She reached for the file and it was then that he raised his gaze to hers, probably wondering why the intruder hadn't left yet. His expression changed momentarily to surprise before it was blank again. Not much new was written on the file.

"What are you doing here?" He was the first to speak, his voice guarded and hoarse

"Checking up on a patient." Leaving things clear enough, she looked back at the file and wrote. This wasn't a teammate visiting another teammate, she wouldn't be there if she didn't have to, but she wasn't sure he cared.

"Does anything hurt?" She asked, but he just stared at her.

"How long…?" He trailed off, but he didn't have to finish.

She closed the file and placed it back where it belonged. Looking him over she almost pitied him, there was no one there to give him the time of day. "It's been fourty two days, Sasuke…" She had to keep herself from adding the suffix at the end. When was the last time she uttered his name?

"What will happen now?" The question was more abstract than she would have liked. Was he referring to the remnants of Team 7? Was he referring to himself? She decided to go with the latter because why would he care about anything else.

"While you were in a coma your situation was discussed, you're pardoned for your crimes because you're an asset to this village and Konoha can't affort to lose the sharingan." She hoped he could read the rest between the lines, it's not because you deserve it Sasuke-kun. He nodded in understanding.

There was a moment of silence where neither of them spoke. She never imagined it'd be like this, in her mind this scenario went a little different. Naruto would be there with them annoying Sasuke and enticing unwanted conversation with the Uchiha and she would wipe tears of joy and smile over at him.

"I'll send a medic nin to do some necessary tests and procedures, don't get in the way of their work." Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. He frowned at her words but she decided to take his silence as a form of agreement.

He was finally home and it's not what she dreamed of.

* * *

Another week had passed before Sasuke was released from the hospital, he was due to the Hokage's office immediately and so was she. She stepped into the room not even bothering to knock. She was expected and she was late, there was no reason for her to be there. As she thought the only ones in the room where Tsunade and Sasuke.

"Nice of you to show up Sakura." Tsunade spoke sarcastically.

Sakura spared Sasuke a glance as he sat in a seat directly in front of the Hokage's desk. His hand was awkwardly placed on his lap gripping the fabric of his clothes. He probably wishes he could cross his arms.

She had barely seen him since he woke up from the coma, doing her best to avoid him, she had left him to the other medic nins only stopping by when necessary. Half the time he'd been admitted she thought about assigning his case to someone else, but didn't.

He might have been pardoned, but he was not forgiven.

"I assume I'm here to inform you of my patient's status?" She asked, she visibly ignored Sasuke as she spoke. There was a pain in her chest that was hurt at her own cold behavior.

Tsunade sighed and her gaze met with the pinkette, she wished she didn't understand her expression as well as she did. "That, and because that patient is your teammate." Her expression was one that told her, implored her, not to throw everything away. Hold on to whatever you have left, it told her, it was the voice of experience talking to her.

She ignored her words.

"He's in good condition, but he needs to rest and take things easy for a while. I recommend no training for at least another week or two." She handed Tsunade the file she held in her hands. "Anything you might need to know is in there."

There was a frown on Tsunade's lips as she took the file from Sakura's hands and placed it in her desk.

"Is that all?" She wanted out, she wanted to be as far away as she could.

"No. What I'm going to say concerns you as well." Sakura doubted but remained in place. "Uchiha Sasuke, you were pardoned for your crimes and the only reason you're not rotting in a cell is because you didn't kill Naruto," He might not have killed him with his hand but he might as well have, he was the reason Naruto bled to death in her arms. "after losing so many ninja in the war, losing Naruto, we can't afford to lose the sharingan." From the corner of her eyes Sakura could see as Sasuke stared forward shoulders squared, as if it all didn't phase him and she wanted to punch him.

"You will serve the village. We are at a time of political tension, every Kage wants your head on a platter and you will properly thank us for not handing it over to them."

* * *

She didn't see him again for a few weeks confining herself in the hospital, working herself to death. The only reason she walked out of her apartment that afternoon toward the market was because Tsunade scolded her. She had worked thirty six hours almost nonstop and so her mentor sent her home and prohibited her from coming back for two days.

The first thing she did as she arrived at her house was sleep not waking up until one in the afternoon the next day. Upon opening the fridge she found all her food rotten and passed its expiration date and so after throwing it all away and cleaning the fridge she headed out to buy the necessities.

She spotted him in the distance buying a bag of tomatoes from an old woman in a stand. His empty sleeve fell at his side and he was having trouble holding the bag and paying at the same time.

The villagers shied away from him, cautious and afraid. Most avoided him like the plague, ignored him altogether or made note not to meet his gaze. Others glared at him, like the rotten scum he was, he didn't seem to mind or care. But against everything in her she couldn't help as her heart broke at the sight, what a lonely world he must live in.

She made her way toward another stand and bought everything she needed, as she paid for the fruits and vegetables she focused on him. He caught sight of her as he turned around his back facing the stand.

Their eyes didn't meet for long before he turned his gaze to the ground and walked away. She watched his back, eyes never straying.

There was a time when he looked down to the world…but now the world looked down on him. She wanted to cry, for him, and she wasn't sure how to feel about that.

* * *

His prosthetic arm was done the following month. Sakura couldn't see why the rush. "He can make do without an arm." She had argued as she eyed the pale thing in front of her. "Give him a while to get used to and he'll probably be a match for most anbu's." He could probably be even better than any of them, she didn't doubt it.

"You're right, maybe he doesn't need it…sure as hell doesn't deserve it but we do; the reason we're keeping him here is so he can be an asset to the village not a burden." Her words were harsh as if he was just a tool.

Sakura was about to object to her teacher's tasteless comment but stopped herself when she realized she would end up defending Sasuke. Instead she spoke, "He doesn't deserve it." No lie there.

"Sakura…" Tsunade started and her tone of voice told the pinkette she was going to start to lecture her. "I won't be around forever neither will Kakashi, the Uchiha is the only teammate you have left. A ninja's life is too short to hold grudges." It was like Tsunade forgot who had been responsible for Naruto's death, like she forgot whose life it costs to obtain the sharingan.

She didn't voice her thoughts out loud and opted to remain quiet. But Tsunade knew her, she knew a few words wouldn't convince her of letting go of her resentment, it was probably crystal clear on her eyes. She didn't do much to hide it.

"Sasuke is your patient and you will be in charge of this procedure and of him from now on, after all I don't want unknown hands playing with my creation." Her eyes fell on the prosthetic arm, Sakura wanted nothing to do with it. It was like giving an award to a murderer. "Oh, and if it's not clear enough I'm not giving you a choice in the matter, this is an order."

Sakura wanted to object, to yell at her, to beg. She didn't want to be close to him, Team 7 ceased to exist the moment Naruto died Sakura wanted to yell at the blonde…but she knows it would be no use. Tsunade was holding on to her own past, she was trying to correct her mistakes through Sakura.

There were bonds you just couldn't mend, but she didn't want to understand.

* * *

The procedure had gone smoothly but she had made him stay the night at the hospital just for precaution. If he, for some reason, had an unknown reaction she wanted to be close. She wouldn't risk being called incompetent or anything of the sort. He moved his arm around slowly as if testing it out.

She just observed and took notes, occasionally asking him a question. She watched the way his muscles reacted in every movement, the way his expressions changed. It seemed to hurt, but that was just because it was a stranger to his body, he would have to get used to it.

"You have to do these exercises twice a day." She informed, her eyes still on the clipboard in her hand. "And I'll give you some pills, if you're in pain take them." She reached in her coat for a small bottle and took a few steps forward placing it on the nightstand beside the bed.

With the 'thud' as she placed the pills followed a silence. It was a silence she refused to break, there was nothing to say between them, or so she tried to convince herself. In reality there was a lot to say, many things stayed unspoken in the past and many things were still unspoken in the present.

She cleared her throat and prepared to leave, she had done her work and if the patient didn't need anything that was the conclusion of her business there.

"Sakura." He spoke before she could take a single step toward the door. Familiarity dripped in his voice in a way that made her miss the detached sound of 'Haruno-san' over and over. In a place where everyone was like a stranger he was familiar and she detested it.

She turned her eyes to him but said nothing, waiting for him to speak. "I didn't…" He trailed off and her hands balled up into fists immediately, if he tried excusing himself for Naruto's death, for everything he did she was going to lose it. "I didn't want this arm." He spoke his voice laced with well-established guilt. It took her by surprise.

"Why?" She managed to say.

"I don't deserve it." Nothing could have prepared her to hear the truth from his lips, to hear that he was as aware as she was, as everyone else was that he didn't deserve that arm. He didn't deserve the second chance, not even the air he was breathing. The expression on his face spoke of defeat, he knew it all well enough.

"And you never will." The bitter tone in her voice wasn't entirely directed at him, but at the circumstances. It could all have been so different.

"Aa."

She didn't say anymore and instead turned around to leave, tears threatened to spill as she hurried over to her office to lock herself the rest of the morning. Sitting on her desk chair she threw her head back and covering her face she cried.

Mourning the 'could have been'.

* * *

Kakashi becomes Hokage and it's an era of mourning he says, she can't help but agree. They mourn Naruto as a hero, they point at Sasuke like a criminal, they look toward Kakashi with hope, and she does all of the above.

Her days are divided between the hospital and helping the new Hokage. Work is never ending, but she lives for it. She makes a point to avoid Sasuke, working in the hospital by day and with Kakashi by nights, she hasn't seen him in a year and a half.

Stretching out her limbs she turns to another pile of paperwork and proceeds to go over it, watching for any mistakes the gray haired Hokage might have ignored. He jokes she does his work for him and she just smiles because every day there's more truth in that statement.

Looking over the mission assignations a name pops up and she couldn't help but look. Uchiha Sasuke on a solo A rank mission, she tried to shake off the feeling of worry that surfaces. It's none of her business, but before she can go back to her uncaring façade Kakashi turned to her.

"It's nothing he can't handle." He spoke, seeing through her every deception, she nodded in response and continued working.

Kakashi doesn't speak again for the longest time and instead turned to his work as she did the same. Kakashi had always been the one to never push her on the subject, he understood her like the rest of the world didn't and it is why she took refuge on him.

"It's been a year since you've become Hokage, would you say you've made a change in Konoha?" She asks suddenly, looking at him from the corner of her eyes as she continues working.

"No, I can't change anything, I'm just here to keep everything from falling apart until someone with the ability to change things steps up." There's a half smile hiding underneath his mask, she knows by the way his expression changes.

The honesty in his statement saddens her, she doesn't think there's anyone who can bring a change to Konoha.

* * *

She is sent to Suna two weeks later to request, or more appropriately plead, an alliance between the two villages. There are guards all around her as they lead her to the Kazekage tower. The distrust between the villages is strong and she's surprised she was led through the gates as easily as she did.

"_You're the only one in Konoha he'll listen to and even then it may not be enough."_

Kakashi was hopeful for an alliance, but everything in his posture as he sent her to Suna screamed doubt. As she was brought to the Kazekage's presence Gaara shooed away the guards who although reluctant left them alone in the room.

She bowed respectfully and slowly reached toward her pouch to retrieve the scroll she had been given by Kakashi handing it over to him. He read it in silence and after he was done he turned to her.

"You know well enough that my only tie to Konoha was Naruto, who is now dead." He spoke and she only nodded in response.

It was then that Kankuro and Temari stepped through the door and made their way to Gaara's side. Only Temari offered her a word of welcome.

"You give me the head of Uchiha Sasuke and we have a deal." His request rang clear enough in her ears. It would be so easy to say 'yes', Kakashi had given her permission to do whatever she thought necessary, that he would respect whatever decision she made.

"I will not give you his head." She surprised herself as she spoke. "Naruto died in my arms, if you want someone's head you can have mine." She spoke, holding her head high as she saw the Kazekage shake his head.

"Forever protecting that Uchiha scum, huh?" Kankuro commented his expression filled with disgust.

Temari remained quiet, biting her lips, her eyes on Sakura. Out of the three sand siblings the only one who wanted the alliance with the leaf was her for reasons Sakura was well aware of.

"I will not let my ninja die in a petty war like this. He is a criminal, yes, but he is also a Konoha shinobi and my village will decide his punishment not you. Death will only bring more death and of that we've had enough." She was out of line, stepping out of boundaries and disrespecting a Kage, something that could cost her life.

There was a slight smile in Gaara's lips. "Only when Naruto's dreams reach the Hokage seat will I accept an alliance with the leaf.

* * *

She felt distraught after arriving at the leaf with no alliance, but Kakashi had praised her for her decisions. After the trip to Suna she spent more than half her time on the Hokage tower aiding Kakashi in his work. Every day it seemed she had more responsibilities.

Sometimes Kakashi would ask her what would _she_ do in his place, then he would ask her what should _he_ do. Asking her for her advice or opinions suddenly became an often thing. Then suddenly he would sign anything she'd give him to sign.

At the moment she hadn't given much thought to it, it had been a gradual thing and to her it only became natural.

That day she had been doing her usual work while Kakashi was in a meeting. The door to the office opened and she immediately turned waiting to see Kakashi but finding Sasuke instead. He looked tired and beat down, he seemed to be arriving from a mission but instead it was like he was coming back from war.

It was the first time in years she's been in a room alone with him. She saw him often nowadays but Kakashi was always there to act as a wall between them.

"Where's Kakashi?" Is the first thing he said.

"In a meeting with the elders." She speaks as she extends her hands to retrieve the mission scroll, she sits in Kakashi's desk which she finds completely natural but for the way Sasuke raises his eyebrow she starts to think it may not be.

He hands her the mission scroll without a word of protest. Opening the scroll she sees why he's so beat up, an S rank mission with a ten percent probability of making it back alive.

"Take it easy for the next couple of days and bring the mission report as soon as you're able." The medic side takes over momentarily, but she can't help it. She marks it as complete and places the scroll with the rest of the documents Kakashi has to sign.

"You know he's grooming you to be the next Hokage, right?" He suddenly speaks and Sakura raises her gaze to meet his confusion evident on her eyes. It's the first time in such a long time that she's face to face with him. She hates what his eyes do to her and the way her heart leaps at the sound of his voice.

Suddenly she remembers a distant memory of Naruto begging Tsunade to let him sit on her desk _"Just to know how it feels like, please!" _He begged and Tsunade shook her head for the thousand time. _"You'll know how it feels like once you're Hokage."_

Making decisions, controlling what Kakashi's signature does and does not do. She might as well be wearing his hat.

"I don't know what he's thinking." Sasuke shook his head, the moment the words were out of his lips Sakura turned defensive.

"What do you mean?" He was looking down on her again, how dare he.

"You don't have the heart for it." He simply says and there's a sad expression in his face as he gives her one last glance before walking out of the office and closing the heart behind it.

She figured he's right, she doesn't have the heart for the version of a Hokage he deems fit, but it doesn't matter 'cause she doesn't want the seat anyway.

* * *

Weeks later, she worked up the courage to confront Kakashi, Sasuke's words wouldn't stop going 'round and 'round her head.

"_You know he's grooming you to be the next Hokage."_

From the expression on Kakashi's face she knew it was true. "I have no intention of being Hokage." She spoke through gritted teeth, her hands balled up into fists as she tried to remain calm.

"Sakura, I thought-" He started but she gave him no room to talk and cut him off.

"Then you thought wrong, I can't be Hokage." She shook her head, she was trembling. The thought of being Hokage made her sick, it was like stabbing Naruto in the back, like taking every bit of his dream away from him.

"Naruto's dead, Sakura." Kakashi spoke as if reading her mind. "He would have wanted his dream to live on. I'm part of a generation that's beyond saving and Sasuke is too damaged, you're the only one who can bring a change to newer generations."

"I can't do this Kakashi." She shook her head again, this time more violently.

"You can make a change, but no one's going to force you. I've talked with the elders and Tsunade, they all agree you would be perfectly suited for the role, you have most of the needed preparations… just think about it." She feels as the burden falls on her shoulders, on one hand it feels like stealing Naruto's dream but on the other it feels like honoring everything he stood for.

She runs out the room not once looking back, she doesn't say 'yes' or 'no', she just leaves it hanging in the air. She runs until she's so far away she doesn't hear a single voice. It's so fitting she arrives at the training grounds, where so many years ago she took the bell test.

The moon shines above in the sky and the night breeze rustles the trees and makes her feel chilly, it's the kind of night she hates with the full moon staring her down making her remember all her failures. How many of her failures had the moon seen?

She thinks it's a fair share of them.

How can Kakashi even think she'd make a good Hokage?

Before she can dwell much on her question she hears steps and she turns alarmed to the sound, so immersed in her thoughts she didn't feel his presence. He blends well enough with the night with his dark features and the way the moonlight illuminates on his skin in a way that makes him glow, she'd mistake him for an angel if she didn't know any better.

He looks down on her, expression blank, but he doesn't say anything. For a moment neither does she, she just looks at him pretending the darkness of the night can hide the way her eyes trail over his body.

His left arm is wrapped around in bandages, his hair is longer the bangs covering almost half of his face, his clothes torn, and the black from his shirt doesn't match the black from his pants. She bets that if he turned around she would see the Uchiha symbol on the back of his shirt.

He looks tired, but she can barely remember a time where that wasn't the case.

"You were right." She says suddenly and she doesn't have to say any more for him to understand. "I didn't mean what I said back then, I don't want the Hokage seat."

"Then refuse." He tells her simply.

It wasn't that easy and he knew that. "If I have the chance to make a change why shouldn't I…it'd be selfish to turn my back to the village."

"You don't have the heart for it." He repeats the words he said before and then adds. "You wouldn't be able to make the necessary sacrifices if need be. To annihilate whole clans, whole nations, to declare war and stomp over anyone who opposes you."

"You're right…but then again that, in itself, it's already a change." She smiles, sadly as she looks up at him. She wouldn't be able to give an order like the one that was given to annihilate his clan. "I would first sacrifice myself than the village." She would first sacrifice herself than sacrifice him, she'd done so already.

"Sounds like you already made up your mind."

"I guess I did." She chuckles.

"It's strange to think that someday I'll see your portrait sculpted in stone every time I enter the village, that someday I'll call you Hokage, but maybe you're the kind of change this village needs." His voice was barely above a whisper, but yet it was reassuring.

* * *

The next day she's back by Kakashi's side. Not a word is spoken between them, instead she works in silence. There seemed to be more work than usual, she could only guess it was because she had left early the day before. When she had everything organized and checked she turned to him, handing him over the documents that needed his signature.

He took the files in her hands with a sigh. She knows he doesn't like his work, but still there he is in that seat, for the sake of the village.

"I've decided." She told him, feeling defeated as she spoke the words.

His eyes turn to her then and although he already knew the answer, she thinks he always did know, he asks anyway. "What did you decide?"

"As a citizen of the hidden leaf it's my duty to serve the village, whether it be as a kunoichi, a medic, or a Hokage…" She gulped visibly as she trailed off, there was no taking back her words.

"It's a lot of responsibility on your shoulders." He warned her, giving her one last chance to walk away, no questions asked.

"I know…" She wasn't sure she could handle the responsibility, but if she had the chance to make a difference she would try her hardest.

Kakashi smiled then, it spread widely enough that it was visible even with the mask on. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like with her on that side of the desk. He had her on his side, but would she have anyone?

* * *

Official training for Hokage wasn't as demanding as she expected it to be, more or less what she did with Kakashi and meeting with the elders. The elders were enamored with her progress and her antecedents, student of both the fifth and sixth Hokage could leave an impression, best medic after Tsunade, responsibilities of the hospital on her shoulders, jounin. With them it was all titles.

In their eyes she was the perfect face for Konoha.

She was just getting out of a meeting with the elders as Tsunade pulled her aside. They walked side by side and for the expression on her face Sakura could see Tsunade was both proud and worried.

"Once the role is passed on to you Kakashi and I will no longer be a part of this, it'll be all you." Sakura nodded at Tsunade's words, she was well aware of that and all it entitled. "They'll try to control you, they'll try to mold you, and if they find they can't they'll get you out of the way." She knew how it worked, she's seen it working with Tsunade and Kakashi, and she's heard the stories behind the Uchiha massacre.

They continued their walk in silence until Tsunade eventually turned the opposite side. She walked the streets of Konoha her head filled with everything the future would bring.

"You look tired." A voice suddenly remarked beside her and she had to hold the urge to jump at the sound.

"Yeah." She responded to his obvious comment, Hokage training and managing most of the hospital would do that to you.

They encountered each other often nowadays, they were chance encounters with meaningless conversations. She would find shelter in the way that for him, and only him she had no titles. She was just Sakura. She reveled in it while it lasted, the day would come in where even he will refer to her as Hokage.

That day she'll stop being Sakura.

"Don't overwork yourself to death." He commented and if she didn't know any better she would say he cared.

"Don't worry, I'll wait to do that until I reach the seat." She pouted and then with a humorless chuckled added. "Or maybe I'll just slack off then, after all I learned from the best."

From the corner of her eyes she could see him smirk and she held back the urge to smile as she often did.

"I'm afraid of being alone in that big office." She spoke, things she didn't even dare tell Kakashi she confided in a stranger with the mask of a loved one. He didn't say anything and so she continued. "I'm afraid of having no one by my side."

He didn't reassure her, he didn't say anything, he just listened and for that she was glad. She just needed someone to hear.

* * *

The next time she encountered him she had been drinking in a small establishment. She wasn't drunk, okay maybe she was, but she wasn't _that_ drunk. He raised an eyebrow as he spotted her and walked toward her.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, it sounded like he was scolding her. She didn't deem it worth to respond and just raised the bottle. "You're drunk."

"I am _not_." Lie, but the way he said it made it sound like a bad thing. "Have a drink with me and loosen up."

He did drink and she continued to do so as well. She was way past drunk, a little voice in her head told her to stop drinking but a much louder voice told her to enjoy it while it lasts. After a while of silence Sasuke turned to her.

"Why are you here?" His eyes bore into hers in a way they hadn't in years, it made her weak in the knees. His gaze was intense and as mesmerizing as it had always been.

She laughed lightly. "I have only two weeks left before I stop being Sakura." Only two more weeks of freedom.

Sasuke frowned.

"With all the titles, I think I'll forget my own name."

He stopped drinking then and set the bottle down. She had to look at him as he turned to face her, he looked so tired. Since the war ended he always looked tired. There was a frown on his lips, she wished he would smile, she wished she could smile. "You'll never stop being Sakura to me." And her heart skipped a beat at his words.

The way he pronounced her name made him seem less of a stranger, her name on his lips was something she knew. And as always her reaction, "Sasuke-kun…" it rolled off her tongue sweetly, in a way it hadn't in years.

For a moment it was like going back to a time where things could be saved, where everything was not yet lost.

They stared at each other for what seemed to be a long time, but in reality was no more than a moment and out of the blue she spoke words that she thought she would never speak again. It was the alcohol talking and it was also her talking, the Sakura she tried to destroy the moment when they took a path they could never come back from.

"I love you." Her words seemed foreign even to herself, his eyes widened and lips parted. She just stood there drinking the memory in. It was the first time she saw his eyes when telling him. "I love you so much it hurts, I've ever only wanted your happiness." A happiness he never found, it broke her to know that.

"Sakura…" Her name on her lips would be her undoing, when he opened his mouth to speak again she reached forward and placed a hand over his.

"Please don't…" She knew that followed and she didn't want to hear it, she wanted no thank you's to think about during the night.

He took his hand away and in a slow motion placed his own hand over hers drawing closer and closer until they were just inches apart. He brought a hand to brush pink strands of her out of her face. His hand brushed her cheek and dipped his head so that their lips were just a breath apart.

He was the one to press his lips to hers and she responded almost instantly. Their lips moved together in a messy fashion, desperately like it was the first and last time. It was a goodbye, it was a taste of what they could never give, it was a 'what if', a plead. She wanted to drown in him and she wanted it to last forever, to forget that it was too late.

She pressed herself closer to him and she felt his hand snake around her waist. He deepened the kiss and it was too much. She broke away but remained close.

"We don't know what we're doing." She spoke. In his eyes she could see he knew well enough what he was doing and she hadn't been more lucid in years. But they were drinking and it was so easy to blame it on the alcohol.

"Sakura, I'm not drunk." He got closer again.

"But I am. And this was a mistake." It was, but it felt so right. He didn't move away but she saw him tense the moment the words were out of her lips. "We have blood on our hands we'll never be able to clean out, we can't just build a bridge over his body and get over it." At the mention of the lost teammate he flinched. "I may not be able to stop myself from loving you but I can keep myself from giving in."

He didn't move and so she pushed at his chest and stood up. Without a second thought, without another look, she ran and ran not stopping until she reached the confines of her home. That night she cried herself to sleep on the floor of her front door.

* * *

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye, she barely had time to mourn her freedom as it slipped through her fingers. The Hokage robes weighed on her shoulders, as of that day the role was hers. She barely remembers the ceremony, the elders speaking or even the cheer of the village.

She was being passed down from arms to arms of what remained of the Konoha twelve. Ino was the one to snap her out of her thoughts. "Congratulations!" She beamed, a wide grin on her lips. "By the way that sculpture looks nothing like you, the forehead is way too small." She had to smile at her best friend's antics.

Ino hugged her again and she had to hug her back, the embrace of a friend. It was a familiar place she thought she had lost.

As she was passed to another set of arms she was lost in her thoughts again, everyone congratulated her but no one said her name.

Hokage-sama, Hokage-sama, _Hokage-sama_.

As she turned to escape she bumped into Kakashi who seemed to be relaxed and carefree. He smiled at her from behind his mask. "The robes look much better on you than they did on me." He placed a hand on her shoulder and it's like he's passing the torch to his student. She doesn't reply and instead smiled, it's only half-heartedly but if he noticed he didn't say anything.

She breathed in a sigh of relief when she was alone at last.

Looking up to the Hokage sculptures she saw herself, it tried to portray a fierce yet kind ruler. She remembered the hours she spent posing for the artist. The sculpture looked beautiful, it wasn't her. The only thing he was able to capture was the tired gaze she wore. But even that she thinks was intentional, it spoke of experience, of maturity and of a life spent in the field.

The Hokage that will bring a change, the elders had spoken.

She was afraid to disappoint.

She was afraid to fail.

In the mountain her portrait didn't belong, it looked out of place. A pretender among the great. It should have been Naruto, she thought for the thousand time that day. She shook her head.

She turned as she heard approaching footsteps, managing a fake smile on her lips. It fell the moment she spotted Sasuke making his way towards her. It was the only set of arms that hadn't embraced her, the only one that didn't congratulate her.

His eyes were on hers, they didn't speak of congratulations, and instead they spoke of understanding. He knew what it was like to have big responsibilities on the shoulders.

Their last encounter hadn't ended in a pretty note. She could still remember the feel of his lips against hers, she could still recall the harshness in her words and the honesty in them. From the look in his eyes she could see he still remembered. They hadn't been drunk enough to forget. He took a few steps forward until he was just in front of her, she didn't move and instead watched as the moonlight illuminated his features.

He was, as always, heartbreakingly beautiful.

"Sakura…" He spoke, every syllable falling of his lips in sync with her heartbeats. The familiar words of a stranger she knew so well.

"_We have blood on our hands we'll never be able to clean out."_

She could hear a part of her whisper in the back of her mind. She could almost see the red, crimson blood staining everything around them.

To him, she was Sakura and she wanted _so _badly to remain being just Sakura. But giving in would mean to forget the blood.

Red, red, _red._

Suddenly the heartbreaking beautiful man standing in front of her was covered in vermillion and from the corner of her eyes she could see her reflection in the window. The sickly red color covered her too.

She wanted to wash away their sins, she wanted to give in, but most of all she wanted forever. But forever was too late.

_We don't deserve this._

Her eyes screamed to him and she wondered if he understood. He stood in silence, his expression unreadable. She couldn't speak. It was like they lost their chance before it even began. He took another step forward and before she gave in, the words blurted out of her mouth. "Is there something you need, Uchiha-san?" She couldn't take them back.

His shoulders tensed visibly and he narrowed his eyes.

_And maybe, we never will. _

"Just wanted to congratulate you," He spoke as he turned his gaze back to hers, his eyes were cold and distant and his words broke her before they were even out of his lips. "Hokage-sama."

With just a single look her way he turned and walked away. She made no move to stop him and instead turned away. Looking back through the window she could see the moon glaring down.

And this might have been the only success the moon's been witness to. She didn't give in. Her resolve remained unbreakable, but her heart was another story entirely.

She turned to walk back to her reception, head high, shoulders squared. The weight on her shoulders would not drag her down she decided and her broken heart she would cover with the robes.

She would make sure not to fail, she would make sure not to disappoint.

* * *

_a/n:_

_This will be a series of one-shots where most will be unrelated and just some few related. Drabbles are short and sweet but sometimes I want to write a little more without writing a full blown story._

_This was a little something for Sakura Week for the prompt resolve. I think she would make a great Hokage and of course some SasuSaku thrown in 'cause I can't help myself. I'm not sure how to feel about this on one hand I really like it but on the other it feels like it's just half finished. It's left in the air, no _real_ conclusion. _

_Might make a sequel to this one-shot, but that only depends on if it's wanted or not._

_I know it seems fleeting, too much time passes in so little story, but I really wanted the distance to be seen and that's exactly why I think I should make a second part._

_Thanks so much for reading and please do leave some feedback in the box below, you would make my day! _


	2. The Plot Twist is That it's You and Her

**The Plot Twist Is That It's You and Her**

* * *

_She was a splash of color in a black and white world._ _She could've done so much better than him and he could do so much better for her._

* * *

_Maybe_, he thinks now, _our story started before I even allowed myself to acknowledge it did. _She's always been there, he's always seen her, it's not like she's easy to miss. Bubble-gum hair, vibrant green eyes, she's always stood out.

She was a splash of color in a black and white world.

"Team 7 consists of Sakura, Naruto-"

"Ughh." She groans, exasperated.

"and Sasuke." Iruka finishes.

"Yes!" She exclaims her bubbly voice being all he hears.

He side eyes his team, it could have been better but it could have been worse. Her smile as she turns to look at him can light up a whole room. At least someone is happy with the team arrangements.

_Looking back, I should have seen it then._

.

.

.

They introduced themselves and she held her hands in front of herself as a sort of prayer, swaying from side to side. Sometimes her gaze turned to his and she blushed, it matched with her hair and it contrasted with her eyes.

"The one I like…" She trailed off sweetly.

Kakashi sighed in exasperation and Naruto just turned to glare at him, like everything was somehow his fault. They didn't see what Sasuke saw, a thought that has been playing around in his head for a while, that girl was misplaced.

Pink, green, red. All vibrant, all brilliant. She was never meant to be part of their world.

"Kill a certain man." He spoke, hatred tainting his voice and all he could see was her heartbreaking expression.

_See, you don't belong here._ He wanted to say.

She was meant for a fairy tale.

.

.

.

_What are you doing here? What are you doing here?_

He kept asking, but words never slipped out so she never answered. He hovered over her, watching over her unconscious form. Her shriek a while earlier that sent him running in a frenzied state, her horror earlier as she saw a severed head only made his earlier question repeat itself in his head over and over.

He had been about to walk away, but he hesitated, looked upon her form and upon seeing the tear stains on her cheeks he couldn't leave her.

There was just something about her, she was easy to break and she needed to be protected and so he would make it his job to do so.

Her eyes opened and there was color again.

"Sasuke-kun!" She held on to him, the embrace was warm. It was strange and she reminded him of a time in where he used to believe in fairy tales and the monsters under his bed.

"Let me go." He protested but barely pushed her away secretly enjoying the contact.

.

.

.

He hears her crying before he sees her and it breaks his heart. He thought he was a goner. Once upon a time he had wondered _who_ would cry over him when he died, he was sure there was no one left.

But there she was.

Tear stained cheeks, trembling lips, and eyes full of tears. She cried over his seemingly dead body.

In a second everything in her expression changed from sorrow to sheer happiness, though she continued to cry her eyes were wide and brilliant. The smile that stretched upon her lips was breathtaking.

"Sasuke-kun…" She spoke and the relief in her voice over took him. She threw herself to him and wrapped her arms around him, as if afraid he'd slip from her fingers she held him tightly. With much more force than he ever thought her delicate body capable of. He knew everything about that moment would be etched into his memory forever.

"Sakura…you're heavy." He spoke and she stepped back and looked at him, wiping the tears from her eyes. The smile ever present.

"You're alive…" He saw the way every syllable formed on her lips and the sound of her voice rang in his ears.

So many times he's asked himself if anyone would cry for him when he's gone, that day the answer was as clear as day.

_She would…_

.

.

.

He's not sure when it happens, but although he stood in the sidelines, although he didn't interact soon he's used to the patterns in his team.

So when Sakura doesn't smile that brilliant smile it doesn't go past him.

He was afraid she may have realized she didn't belong there.

He could see it in her eyes, in the the words 'what am I doing here' hanging at the tip of her tongue, in the way she would force a smile, in the way her shoulders sagged and her feet dragged.

It all screamed 'I don't belong here'.

And she didn't, but he'll be there to protect her no matter what so she can stay, she can be a part of their world.

So the words were out of his mouth before he could think twice. "Sakura, you must have noticed first, right?"

There was a moment in where he thinks he might have done something wrong, but the expression on her face quickly changed. "That's right, because this is the second floor!" She remarked and a smile quickly took over her features putting everything else around her to shame.

It brought an involuntary smile to his lips.

_Maybe…she can be a part of _my_ world._

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.

.

Suddenly, everything was on fire. Black fire engulfed everything around him and he could barely breathe, he couldn't see anything. It was all black. All could hear was the loud screams of pain and something told him it was all his own.

Clawing at his neck with one hand, he tried desperately to make the fire stop.

With his other hand he gripped the trunk of the tree beneath him. On his knees with his head bowed he thinks he must have looked pathetic, _weak_.

Oh, how he hated that word.

He could almost hear as his brother whispered it in his ear and all he wanted was to prove him wrong. He was burning and alone, like he always thought he'd go.

But as a hand intertwined with his he realized that he wasn't really alone. The contact burned as well, but it was a pleasant kind and although it didn't stop the black flames they were an anchor. He turned his head desperately looking for her.

He knew it was her, meeting her green eyes he held on to the ray of light. As he gripped her hand in his he found out she wasn't as fragile as she appeared to be.

.

.

.

Power surged in him, his hands twitched and all he could see was her. Bloodied, bruised, hurt, and her _hair_. It was all around them, pink strands of hair covering the ground. "Who did this to you?" He asked, his voice positively murderous she would just stare at him with wide eyes. Blood stained her cheeks and her lips and he's never felt such anger before.

"That would be…me." He heard the voice but didn't see the face. Fury overtook him along with an intense need to hurt, kill. Because how _dare _he touch her.

"You seem so proud of these arms of yours." He could feel the bone as it broke under his touch and a sinister smile spread across his lips at the sound. He wanted to break every bone in his body, there was a burning sensation all around him, it urged him to do so and again all was darkness.

"Sasuke-kun! Stop!" He recognized her voice and her touch as she pressed on to him, he didn't want to stop.

Turning his face to face her he saw her eyes wide and tears streaming down begging him to _stop_. _But why_, he wanted to scream, _he hurt you._

"This isn't you." She whispered, fear lacing her voice and she wasn't entirely wrong. The power, the anger, the darkness that surged through him wasn't his. Slowly and against his will it slowly receded, he could feel the burning sensation leaving his body.

He fell on his knees and she fell with him still holding on to him tightly, he didn't want her to let go, _ever. _He felt weak.

_I couldn't protect you, Sakura._

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.

.

"Don't get in my way, Sakura." She flinched at his tone of voice and he had to hold back the urge to take it back. It was for her own good he tried to convince himself. He gripped her hand in his.

It was delicate and smooth, she was still unmarked by the harsh life she's chosen.

_It's not your job to save me._ He wanted to say. How could she think she could save him, from all the demons, all the blood, all his hatred? He didn't want to be saved, he needed all of it and he needed power and he needed to avenge his clan before he even looked toward the future.

"I won't forgive even you, if you take this away from me." And there was something in that statement that unnerved him. He could just stare into her eyes, eyes that brimmed with tears for him.

At some point she became an exception. _I can't let anyone in, Sakura. Not even you._ And he was at it again. Afraid of what it meant he let her hand go and turned away.

.

.

.

And she survived, she sat beside the bed apple in her hands peeling it with a smile adorning her face. She had been there since he woke up, probably before that too and she's alive and well and safe but not because of him.

_So weak. Still not enough. _His brothers' voice seemed to whisper in his ear.

"_Thanks, you saved me didn't you, Sasuke-kun?" She had asked and as she uttered his name he inched closer._

"_No, it was Naruto who saved you. He fought with all his strength to save you." The words left a sour taste in his mouth, it was like admitting weakness. He had failed the promise he never uttered, to protect _her_ no matter what._

_Her eyes turned to Naruto then and she smiled, it wasn't his smile any more he noticed and something akin to anger began eating away at him._

He gripped the sheets beside him. He wasn't able to protect her and he didn't deserve her. There were many emotions at once, too many that he didn't yet understand, others he didn't want to understand.

Out of everything there were two things he couldn't ignore: he didn't deserve her because he was weak, Naruto was stronger.

He gritted his teeth as he heard her voice cheerfully say, "Sasuke-kun, want some apples?" She could do so much better than him and he could do so much better for her.

He slapped the plate away with more force than was needed and wanting not to see the look on her face he turned away from her facing the window. The room filled with silence, all he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat as it pounded rapidly in his chest.

_Weak. Weak. Weak._ His brothers' voice continued chanting in his ear.

Footsteps, and afraid to see she had walked away he turned only to find Naruto, a look of confusion as his eyes inspected the room.

"Naruto…fight me."

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.

.

He could feel it the lighting at his fingertips, the power on his hand as he pushed forward, the sound of a thousand birds was all around him drowning out everything else.

But somehow above all that he could hear her, her voice pleading, urgent, and desperate. "Stop!" She exclaimed at the top of her lungs and suddenly she ran forward between them both and all he wanted was to stop.

She ran her eyes closed and his eyes widened with every step closer she took. All he could see was pink, he was afraid that if he blinked there would be red.

"Please stop!" She screamed and it was that last attempt of hers to not see her teammates try and kill each other. He didn't know if she was aware it could cost her life or if she just didn't care, what he did know is that she wasn't meant for that life.

He wanted to scream to her to get out of the way, but her name caught up in his throat and he was unable to utter a syllable. In a mere second a hand caught his wrist and they were flying away.

His Chidori hit one of the two water containers and for a second all he could feel was the relief of looking sideways and seeing her intact.

.

.

.

The moon glared down at him as he walked out of his apartment down the streets of Konoha. Everything he needed on his back and everything he didn't he left along with the picture of Team 7 face down in his room.

It was a beautiful night, the moon shone and lit up the countless clouds above, the leaves of the trees moved with the night's breeze and stood out with the light of the moon. There were memories all around him, both comforting and disconcerting and he was about to leave it all behind.

He didn't expect to see her there, in the road out of the village in the dead of night. He could see in her eyes that he wouldn't be able to fool her, her brow frowned and her eyes showed him everything he's been trying to avoid.

"I knew you'd come this way…if you were to leave…" Her gaze turned to the ground and he realized that the idea had been going 'round her mind before it even popped into his.

"Get out of here and go back to sleep…" His words were mechanic and detached and he moved past her, he walked one step at a time and every step he took felt heavy.

"Why won't you say anything to me?!" Her voice raised in volume and he knew that if he turned to look at her there would be tears in her eyes.

"I told you, I don't need your help. Don't try to look after me." _Don't try to save me._ He spoke, his voice harsh. Another step forward.

"You just always hate me, don't you?" He stopped dead in his tracks. Is that what she saw? He didn't think there was anyone in the world capable of hating _her_. No, not with her radiance, not with her fragility, her pureness, and most of all her strength. A strength that shined from within, that didn't consist in power but in the light she carried around her.

He knew he could take that light away.

"_You're annoying."_

"I don't remember." Oh god, of course he remembered. And he heard her cry and his heart clenched at the sound.

"That's when it all began though…you and me, Team 7…" He refused to reply and instead he hung to her words, to the sound of her voice. It could very well be the last time they spoke. "Even if you get revenge, that won't bring anyone happiness. Not you, nor me."

His throat felt dry and he had to bite his lip for a moment. He knew her, she believed in fairy tale endings, in love overcoming all. He didn't, he couldn't.

"I already know that…" He believed in tragedies, in revenge, there was no place left for love. He was different, from them, from her. Their paths should have never crossed, their eyes should have never met, and maybe if she hadn't filled his life with color it wouldn't be so hard to leave everything behind.

"I may have friends and family, but if you were to leave, to me I would be just as alone as you." A frown took over his features. _Please, don't let me take the light away._

"From here on out, we take different paths." Another step forward, heavy. _Don't._

"I… I love you with all my heart!" His heart leapt at her words and his lips parted. "If you stayed there would be no regrets…" _I know._ "We'd be happy, I swear!" _I don't doubt that one bit. _"I would do anything for you…so please, just stay with me…or take me with you if you can't." He wanted badly to give in. And of course as fate would play it out, it just wasn't meant to be.

_She filled my lonely heart with love…_

"You're annoying." He turned to her then, the words falling of his tongue in an almost endearing way. She made it so tempting to give in, so hard to walk away. She made him feel things he had once decided he would not feel again, things he once thought he'd never find again.

Tears fell from her eyes and they seemed never ending, he felt the weight of each and every one of them on his shoulders. Green eyes bore into his, he could see everything in them and he hoped she didn't see the same in his.

He turned away and took another step, it was the heaviest maybe. Walking away from everything you could ever want is as hard as it sounds like. "Don't leave." And suddenly he was behind her. Time seemed to slow down for them, he was glad he couldn't look into her eyes then. The parting of lovers that weren't quite so.

_but I couldn't let love in._

"Thank you." A sad smile took over his lips as she fell into his arms with her eyes closed. He could only gaze at her face with longing.

Gently he placed her in the stone bench nearby, his hand pushed away the stands of pink hair from her eyes and he drank the sight in. His hand lingered on her cheek and he breathed in the moment. "We would have been happy, I would have loved you." And there's not a doubt, they were Sasuke and Sakura and if life wasn't as it is they would have had it all.

But she's light and he's darkness and they were made for different stories entirely.

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She stepped into the clearing her steps firm and filled with purpose and suddenly the world is filled with colors. He could see the cerulean blue of the sky and the ochre of the ground around them, but most of all he could see pink and green.

"Sakura." Her name escaped his lips, feeling foreign on his tongue, but falling off effortlessly.

She turned to him then, slowly and raised her gaze to meet his. "Sasuke-kun." He saw the way her lips formed every syllable, heard the almost inaudible way she pronounced it. Her eyes widened and he could see many things in them; pain, hope, love.

He kept his expression guarded and refused to betray a thing.

For a moment, they had a moment. It was almost magical, the could have been's hanging in the air, pent up emotions, and her.

It wasn't the same Sakura he left on a bench, but how could he blame her when he wasn't the Sasuke that had walked away either.

His attack missed, lighting hit everyone around him except her. She stood untouched, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her and bonds he wanted to destroy only resurfaced. Because…how could anyone _not_ love her, it's not a bond he can destroy only time can do that.

It was then that he saw a different side of her he didn't knew existed; fist ready, expression fierce she lunged forward ready to take him back by force if she had to. The ninja life wasn't for her but she made it her own.

_Where is that little girl I had to protect? The girl playing at ninja?_

Gone, it seemed.

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.

.

There she is, lies slipped through her lips and her eyes wanted to deceive him, but he knew her well enough. He knew by the way she whispered his name, a tone of finality in her voice. He knew by the way every step seemed to weight her. While she mentally prepared he was already one step ahead of her.

He was behind her and it was all so nostalgic, again time turned increasingly slow and bit by bit the noise of a thousand birds filled everything around him, the lighting illuminated her with whites and blues and she looked absolutely celestial.

The unspoken promise weighted on his heart, that small shred of sanity in him screaming not to do it. _Not her, anyone but her._ But he wouldn't listen, she was just like the rest of them. Anger ripped through him, the woman who claimed to love him went against him. The one thing he could count on being constant in his life was crumbling and the color was fading.

As his attack lunged forward she turned, her expression filled with fear, eyes wide. All he could see were her eyes, green and brilliant threatening to flood his world with color again. Suddenly it's not black and white anymore, he can see the cream color of her skin, the bubble gum pink of her hair and she's once again the Sakura he _needs_ desperately to protect.

He sees the realization in her eyes that she's as good as dead and the closer he gets the more he wants to stop. For three full seconds he was himself and she was precious and dear and he couldn't lose her. He bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood and his heart breaks at the knowledge that he can't stop himself.

She should have never been a part of his world.

For a moment he thought he killed her, it takes him a minute for him to register that Kakashi's there and she's safe. He felt as his lips moved but couldn't hear the sound, Kakashi's voice was lost as well and all he could see was Sakura, her expression heart breaking and painful.

Suddenly all he could hear was laughter, his own, filling the space around them. It was a strange sound to his ears, it sounded like he was drowning and everything in his chest hurt, it was like losing everything all over again.

_They're all laughing._

He sees them, smiling, laughing, happy…at the cost of his brothers' life. She…she held out her hand inviting, her smile genuine and only for him, her eyes filled with love but she knows _nothing._

His vision blurs and he sees darkness, but he hears the approaching figure, he feels someone behind him and he feels betrayed at the realization. It's her. Pointing a poisoned kunai at his back.

He turns around, a reflex, self-preservation, and takes her by the neck. He's glad he can't see her then, because he knows there is no way he can hurt her while looking into her eyes. But he can feel it, her pulse, her neck under his touch as he chokes the life out of her. He can hear her protest and his heart clenches at the knowledge that he'll be the death of her.

How fitting.

His movements are mechanic as he takes the kunai from her hand. He can hear Kakashi screaming at him to stop and all he wants is to drop the weapon but he has no control.

It's not until Naruto arrives and she's out of his grip that he realizes. His eyes turn to her form, he can see her eyes wide, tears threatening to spill as she holds on to the blonde.

He feels shame and he's struck by the weight of the blood that almost stained his hand, a blood he would have never been able to wash out. He feels sick; but maybe, he thinks, she finally understood…there's no saving him anymore.

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.

.

In the midst of the fire, the battle, and the bloodshed she looks out of place. The cry for war is not meant for her lips and her words hold a weight she shouldn't be able to bear, but there she is fierce. Her head held high and putting everyone else to shame.

So when he lands a few feet away from her and Naruto he's surprised to look towards her and find those green eyes filled with so much hope that it's almost suffocating. For once in his life he sees as her light engulfs more than just him in the blackest of nights.

"Sasuke-kun…" Her voice whispers with a tone of familiarity he never expected to hear again, with a hint of relief even and he's taken aback with the way every syllable of his name escape her lips.

"Sakura…" It's the only thing he can say to the girl whose life he almost took away.

But relief is not all, he sees the caution in her eyes when he looks further, a hint of distrust in her posture, but most of all questions. Dozens of questions hung at the tip of her tongue but only one slips her lips almost regretfully. "Why are you here?" She asks and everything in her eyes tells him she fears the answer, because at the end of the day she is still Sakura and she hangs on to hope a little too much.

He knows everyone around them is wondering the same thing and although they don't deserve an answer, although he would normally never explain himself he finds himself opening his mouth to answer _because_ she is Sakura.

"A lot has happened…" He starts, with difficulty, knowing that it's not something he can explain in the middle of a war, but wanting so much to tell her, so much to almost beg her to understand. "But I've decided to protect the leaf."

He doesn't miss the way her eyes light up almost instantly, the way her lips part in astonishment. It's the answer she hoped he'd give and the one she was afraid he wouldn't.

Suddenly in her eyes he's not so lost anymore, he's not sure how to feel about that, because hasn't she learned anything?

_I'll let her down… sooner or later._

.

.

.

"Sasuke-kun!" He recognizes her voice in the middle of nowhere. "Hurry!" She urges, desperation taking over her voice.

Amongst everything else he's a ninja and he understands perfectly the need of speed in the situation but that doesn't stop the way his sharingan turns to her and in a mere second he can see everything.

He can see her dressed in black, the sleeve in her right arm ripped at the shoulder, the way acid burns at her skin. He can see the black marks on her face that go down her eyes and through her arms making her look deadly beautiful, like the warrior he knows her out to be, always ready to be the savior. Sweat rolls down her forehead and determination shines like never before in her green eyes. Her expression desperate and fierce and the diamond in her forehead shining.

She looked stunning, breathtaking, and maybe it was the heat of the dessert talking, but his heart sprinted in his chest at the sight of her and he swears he's never seen anything like her in his life.

But it was just a second and the next he sees her vest in the ground just a feet away from her and he sees her energy fading. Her eyes lose focus and she starts falling backwards.

What catches his attention the most are her eyes and the sheer willpower that lies in them, what pushes her forward when there's nothing else left in her.

And the next thing he knows he's behind her, catching her in his arms and pulling her closer to him while he almost drowns in her warmth.

His eyes find hers and he finds that the moment is theirs and he can't look away. There are no lies in those eyes, no attempt at deception and the honesty in her green eyes is almost more than he can bear.

"Thanks to you… I made it." And the words came easy.

.

.

.

His back is turned to her and a part of him thinks he'll get away easy, but the part of him that knows her expects her to make it painfully hard. Walking away from her has never been easy and on this particular occasion he doesn't know if he'll manage.

He doesn't have to turn to her to know the look in her eyes, to know the way her eyebrows arch and her eyes fill with determination, to know the way she bites her lip to keep from sobbing, and most of all to know the way tears stream down her cheeks spilling from her eyes without her even noticing.

He's seen it all before.

They may be older, stronger, bolder, but they're back to where they were then.

And he knows how it ends.

So he takes a step and takes another, and almost on cue her voice rings in his ears. "I've always known there was nothing I could have done for you…but I still love you!" He doesn't know why her words come to him as a surprise, he's seen it in her eyes, yet there he is and her words of love serve to leave him speechless.

"If I could have taken all your pain onto myself…I would have."

He can hear the honesty in her voice, the desperation, and the pain. Everything in him hurts because here she is, perfect little Sakura breaking apart with his every step.

"And here we are again…" He knows her thoughts are drifting back with his to a night almost forever ago in where almost the same words were spoken. "Still all I can do is sit here and cry…I'm so pathetic!" Her voice breaks at the last word and he takes another step frustration overtakes him because how can she be so blind? How can she not see what he sees?

Out of the two she's always been the strongest.

He remembers being behind her back then hearing her cry and how it was almost too much, he remembers his last words to her and wonders if she's remembering the same thing. What kind of memory was that to her?

"But Sasuke-kun!" And there she pours out to him what is left of her heart, he can hear her sobbing how every word breaks at her lips.

"If I still have a place somewhere in your heart…no matter how small it may be…then please, I'm begging you…"

Her pleas ring in his ears and he knows the next words out of her lips before she's even said them.

"Don't slip any further away!"

Selfless and unconditional, still there he is walking away. _Let me walk away._ He pleas.

But it wouldn't be Sakura if she listened.

"If we just stayed together…forever…then I'm sure someday…things would go back to how they used to be…"

And out of everything that's what makes him falter in his step and he freezes unable to walk away. He can hear the promise in her words, she's offered it before and just like back then he can almost see it. Just at arm's length away but getting farther. As a child the promise of happiness is tempting…but as a man the promise of happiness is something he painfully covets.

He closes his eyes and lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, the word forever echoes in his head and all he wants is to give in but when he opens his eyes again his reality is another.

He can hear her crying behind him and as always his heart breaks at the sound. He turns to her because it's how the story goes, because he will not be able to walk away until he does. He opens his lips to speak and from the look in her eyes she knows the words he'll utter before he does.

"You're so damned annoying…"

The words fall off his lips painfully, because she has that way about her, slipping through every wall. He sees the truth of every word she's spoken in her eyes. And he knows from experience that if he doesn't do something, anything to stop her, she'll try to stop him again.

So with a heavy heart he turns his eye to her and he puts her to sleep with a mental image of what she fears the most.

He falls, falls, falls…and there's no saving him.

_I'm sorry_.

Tears keep slipping down her cheeks and she falls to the ground and the sight of it will forever be etched into his memory.

"I can see no reason why she would love me…" _But she loves me anyway. _"I can see no reason why I should love her." _But I do._

And the realization is painful, terrifying, because there's no going back. Theirs was a story that should have never started in the first place, but it did.

_She can't love me, she can't love me, and I can't love her._

_We both know how it ends._

.

.

.

He lays in the ground, battered, bruised, and a little more dead than alive. Above them she hovers, her eyes taking in their state, her expression relieved and pained at the same time. Her eyes stare at the stain of blood that ends the bloodshed and she holds back unshed tears, her lips turning into a frown.

She doesn't let her feelings take ahold of her like she would have years ago and turns to work immediately her hands glowing a mint green as she works on their arms.

She works in silence, her eyes closed, and to his surprise there is no sign of tears falling from her eyes.

He can just admire her because he thought he'd never get the chance again. Her pink hair fell messily in her face covering up part of her eyes but somehow the diamond in her forehead remained visible.

"Sakura…I…" He trailed off as she shook her head and for a moment he thought he had accomplished earlier what he sought out to do.

"Just shut up for now…I'm concentrating." She spoke, opening her eyes and turning to him briefly before she turned back to her work.

"I'm sorry…" He spoke, not caring about the blonde beside them or the gray haired ninja just some feet away. The words were spoken carefully, slowly so she wouldn't miss out a single syllable, so she would understand that they were truthful.

An apology, to her most of all, was long overdue.

"Sorry? For what…?" She asked her voice trembling as the question was out of her lips.

"For everything up 'til now."

_For every single thing I've done to you, for every tear you cried on my behalf, for every time I turned away, and for realizing almost too late._

At his words it was like seeing the life return to her eyes and as she turned to him her lips curled upward into a smile bright and beautiful, silently she welcomed him home. "You'd better be…shaaaannaro…" It was then that tears fell from her eyes, but her smile was radiating and she was light.

He brought himself into a sitting position and she laughed and smiled wiping away the tears from her eyes while all he could do was stare as all the color flooded back into his life.

_We have come a long way…_

.

.

.

Somehow they're back to that part of the story and he's walking away, this time however it goes a little different. They're older and he's no longer trying to block the sun with his thumb so he bathes in the sunlight and relishes the way she makes the colors stand out.

"You're really gonna leave?" She asks her voice somewhat disappointed because for them forever would never last long enough.

Words slip out of his lips easily in a way he's still just getting used to. "I'm finally able to see all the things I've overlooked up 'til now. I might never see with this kind of clarity again." She nods, not satisfied with the idea but ready to let him go.

"What if…" Her eyes turn to the side and a blush creeps over her cheeks. He can't help but watch the way she pursues her lips as she utters the rest of her question. "I asked you to take me with you…?" Her blush only intensifies as she glances up at him through her pink lashes.

And although the idea of traveling with her day and night both intrigues him and excites him he knows a journey of redemption is not the time.

"My sins have nothing to do with you."

He can see the disappointment in her posture but he knows she'll understand because she knows him as he knows her, better than he knows himself.

The promise of forever hangs between them in their reach, waiting for him as she waits for him, patient and unconditional. He will never deserve her but he will come back home to her arms a man ready to spend the rest of his life loving her like he should have from the start.

He extends his hand toward her and in slow movement he pokes her forehead where the purple diamond rests proudly, he lingers and as their eyes meet he can't help the small smile that takes over his lips.

There's surprise in her eyes and her cheeks are almost matching her hair. "I'll see you when I'm back." He tells her because this time the story's different and he'll walk away but will have a reason to come back.

"…And thank you…"

The words escape his lips in a whisper, only for her ears to hear, like a secret in the dead of night. This time though, they both know what the words mean. The moment between them with a gesture that seems so simple is so much.

It's the only way he can say it without saying it, and as always Sakura doesn't need words to understand.

For the first time since he first laid his eyes on hers, for the first time since the day the teams were arranged, he feels like they are meant for the same story.

And the story ends with a happy ending.

_But it's not an ending, it's another beginning._

* * *

_a/n: It's just a retelling, but I really like this one. Got maybe a little too out of character on the bench scene, but oh well. I really like writing from Sasuke's point of view._

_Let me know what you think about this one. :)_


	3. Forever Over and Over

Forever Over and Over

* * *

The last thing he remembers is a vibrant red before his line of vision is overshadowed by the purple of his Susano. He vaguely recalls how she screamed, jolting him to consciousness. And as he opened his eyes the world around him was in shades of grey.

. . .

The first few hours after the aftermath seemed everlasting, every minute seemed like an eternity. The silence just served to amplify the feeling of emptiness around them, but so did every sound that seemed to echo 'til the ends of the earth. Sasuke couldn't decide which was worse.

They were both in shock, and they both dealt with it differently. He opted to stay silent, knowing that even if he tried no sound would come out his mouth. Sakura, on the other hand, wouldn't stop crying, her face contorted in anger he wished he could muster.

_It wasn't supposed to end the way it did_, he knew the same thoughts were racing through her mind.

Around him were only gray lands and skies and the air seemed to carry the ashes of what the fire had scorched, it all smelled of burnt and smoke. As he looked over to Sakura he could notice nothing else but the lack of color. Everything around him was colorless, even the pink of her haired dulled out by the gray.

"How could things go so wrong…" She spoke, after what seemed like forever. Her voice sounded cracked and broken probably due to all her crying. Her eyes and nose were puffed and slightly reddened.

He didn't know how to answer so he didn't.

He thought they had it all under control, they were finally getting the upper hand on Kaguya, they had finally sealed her. Everything was supposed to be over. He had been replaying he events in his mind again and again for hours, trying to figure out how it happened.

After he and Naruto sealed Kaguya, Team 7 landed on the ground, just as they started to take a breather the ground started pulling into Kaguya. He remembered seeing Kakashi faraway running towards them.

Sasuke was quick to summon Susano and Naruto was quick to go to Kakashi's aid. That's where things got confusing; Sakura tried to run after Naruto, but he held her back and just as he was holding her in place all they could see was red and Naruto and Kakashi were no more.

It took everything in him to hold Susano in place.

His eyes opened the moment he heard Sakura scream. He no longer had Susano as a shield and the stains of darkened blood could be seen everywhere around them as well as the aftermath of the explosion.

Naruto and Kakashi were dead.

He was sure there was nothing left of them. Not after that explosion.

The loss of loved ones shouldn't come as a surprise to him anymore, not after everyone he'd lost, not after everyone he had left behind. But yet he can still feel the agonizing ache in his chest, he can feel the bile in his throat and it's like he's back in those days.

_What now?_

Sakura didn't answer his unspoken question, she just stared at the ground. They were in the middle of nowhere, there was no past around them, no future, only the present. "We can't stay here." He told her and her eyes turned to his as she spoke what was painfully obvious.

"We have nowhere else to go."

.

.

.

They had been walking for what seemed like hours, but she wasn't sure. Time seemed non-existent, distance seemed meaningless. Everything looked the same around them and she felt they were going in circles. Sasuke didn't voice it out loud, but he didn't know where they were going…if they were going anywhere.

By now she was dragging her feet through the ground, it took everything in her to keep moving. She was hungry, she was thirsty. And she was afraid they would die like this…walking aimlessly.

The sky was gray, it had been like that for a while now, she wasn't sure if she should call it day or night, or even if those concepts existed in that world.

She walked behind Sasuke and she saw as his leg gave in and he fell to his knees. "Damn it." She heard him curse and rushed to his side falling on her knees as well. He tried to stand and she took him by the arm holding him in place.

"It's no use." She told him as his gaze met with hers.

They remained in silence a while after that until he broke the silence. "I promise, we'll find a way out of here." She nodded, but they both knew it was a promise he might not be able to keep.

.

.

.

It wasn't until they reached a greener space that they found something to eat and drink. It seemed more like their world now even if he knew it wasn't. Trees with weirdly shaped fruits surrounded them, and water bodies seemed vast, but they were alone.

They didn't know how the world around them worked, one moment they were in that gray landscape and the next there were greens and blues. They walked and walked and suddenly they were there and once he looked back gray was nowhere to be seen.

Sakura had already expressed her uneasiness. "What if we suddenly find ourselves in the lava dimension…or the one with acid lakes…"

It was a possibility.

Sasuke sat in a tree stump looking at the blue sky, in the distance there were mountains and on the mountains there seemed to be something else, but he couldn't make it out with the distance.

.

.

.

In the familiar blue and green dimension time seemed to pass, day and night came and went, although Sasuke could swear the passing of time seemed to be much slower. It seemed like weeks until sunset rolled by and days until the moon lit up the sky.

Sakura sat by his side and as he turned to her he saw her staring at the strange sky above them. It was a dark purple with shades of cerulean blue. "There are no stars." Her comment took him by surprise, in the past few days she had only spoken a few words and only when spoken to.

Sasuke hadn't taken notice of the stars, his attention more on the moon that seemed to take up most of the sky.

"We should get moving tomorrow." He changed the subject, they hadn't moved in days. Afraid of what lied ahead.

"Why?" Her question echoed and the hopelessness in her question is not something he's used to hearing in her voice. "There's nothing waiting for us back home…if there even is a home left."

He had to admit she had a point.

"And what do you propose?"

"Let's stay here, here where it's just you and I." She whispered, her voice low as if anyone would hear them. He couldn't deny her proposition was tempting.

She's all he had left.

.

.

.

Days passed and they go on about their daily lives as if nothing had happened. The first few days are blissful, like nothing he's ever experienced but before long it seemed to turn into a nightmare. Neither of them mention their fallen teammates it's as if their names are unable to be uttered.

He remembered their names in the back of his mind, but it felt like he's forgotten.

There are no more talks of home, no more talks about leaving. It's just then and now and everything seemed to be going in circles.

For the hundredth time, they sat by the same lake and just like all those times before his hand inched closer to hers and her name fell off his tongue. "Sakura."

And as if on cue the leaves blew and a single one lands on her knee. He knew the script by heart, the way she takes the leaf and offers it to him.

His eyes widened as his gaze met with hers, from the look in her eyes she had noticed it too. "Sasuke, it's going on a loop."

"We need to get out of here." He replied quickly, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Just when he thought they've snapped out of it Sakura shook her head.

"Why?" She asked and Sasuke wanted to scream. "There's nothing waiting for us back home…"

"What do you propose?" The words come out of his mouth and he can't stop himself, they're trapped.

"Let's stay here, just you and I." He was sure he's heard her say that before, it sounds right.

"Forever."


End file.
